This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Tragically Hip fans open doors to host friends, families for concert

A television set on a dock? Nothing could be more Canadian — if the Tragically Hip are playing.

Across Canada — and beyond — people are opening their homes to friends and family on Saturday night to watch the Tragically Hip’s final show in Kingston, Ont., air live on CBC.
(Lars Hagberg / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

A television set on a dock? Nothing could be more Canadian — if the Tragically Hip are playing.

Across Canada — and beyond — people are opening their homes to friends and family on Saturday night to watch the Tragically Hip’s concert in Kingston, Ont., aired live on CBC.

In honour of the Hip’s special place in the hearts of Canadian cottagers everywhere, Emily Andras plans to host her viewing party with help of many, many extension cords on the dock at her cottage in Portland, Ont.

“On the dock, we’ll all be together; it’s such a quintessential Canadian experience. It’s a cliché, but it will be super fun,” she said.

Andras will be meeting up with her old friends from university, some who’ve now moved all the way to as Victoria, B.C. The Hip sung them through their school years, and although some of them have been able to attend shows in other cities, they wanted to be all together to say goodbye to the band one last time.

“It’s so just so lovely and it’s so great to be reunited that I’m really excited that we’re going to have our own experience watching the concert,” she said.

Back in Toronto, Matt Warner plans on hosting about 20 people in his downtown condo’s theatre room to watch the concert. Like Andras, the party idea sprung from Warner’s own bad luck at scoring tickets.

“We tried valiantly,” he lamented. Although he and his girlfriend — who’s birthday auspiciously falls on September 17, the date named in “Fiddler’s Green”— were ticketless, the duo decided to do something big for the final show.

“It was originally going to be just my girlfriend and I, this emotional, cathartic goodbye to a band that has meant a lot to both of us,” he said.

But with nearly everyone in a similar boat, they decided to invite the whole gang. There will be no ironically named beverages, no “Little Bones” chicken wings — but he has asked everyone to bring Canadian beer.

Warner’s brother, who lives in Ottawa, won’t be able to make it, but the two share an affinity for the band and have both mourned Downie’s diagnosis.

“It was almost like hearing that a family friend had gotten sick,” Warner said.

Kingston’s show is being heralded as the band’s last moment to say goodbye to their fans, and it has become a must-see moment in Canadian culture.

Even all the way out in sunny California, Canadians are finding ways to tune into the CBC.

Shawn Kerwin, who co-owns On the Thirty in Los Angeles, was approached by the group Canadians Abroad to host a viewing party for expats who want to watch the show. Kerwin who grew up in Montreal and went to university in Ottawa, said that has someone who’s lost his own father to cancer, he’s touched by Downie’s perseverance.

“You got to give it everything you got,” he said.

He’ll be serving poutine (with real cheese curds) and Caesars to keep the Canadians from rioting. The bar had to buy some special gear to get to the CBC feed to work, but he said it’s worth it.

Going to the final Tragically Hip show in Kingston, Ont. Saturday? If so, please send us your best pictures of the concert for a chance to be published in the Toronto Star and online.

Delivered dailyThe Morning Headlines Newsletter

The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, One Yonge Street, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please contact us or see our privacy policy for more information.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com